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Psychology For Dummies

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Erschienen am 19.08.2020, 3. Auflage 2020
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ISBN/EAN: 9781119700302
Sprache: Englisch
Umfang: 416 S., 5.01 MB
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Format: PDF
DRM: Adobe DRM

Beschreibung

Find out what makes youand everyone elsetick

PsychologyFor Dummies takes you on the challenging and thrilling adventure into the astonishing science of why we do the things we do. Along the way youll find out how psychology helps us improve our relationships, make better decisions, be more effective in our careers, and avoid stress and mental illness in difficult times.

In a friendly, jargon-free style, clinical psychologist and teacher Adam Cash uses practical examples to delve deep into the maze of the human mind: from the basic hardware, software, and "wetware" of our brains to the mysteries of consciousness and the murkier reaches of abnormal behavior. He also provides profound insights into our wants and needs, the differences between psychological approaches, and how positive psychology can help you lead the good life that fulfills you most.

Gain insights into identity and the selfCope with stress and illnessMaintain psychological healthMake informed choices when seeking counseling

Whether youre new to the unconscious or an established devotee of Freud and pharmacology,Psychology For Dummiesis your essential guide to the examined lifeand what can make it even more worth living!

Autorenportrait

Adam Cash is a clinical psychologist who has practiced in a variety of settings including forensic institutions and outpatient clinics. He has taught Psychology at both the community college and university levels. He is currently in private practice specializing in psychological assessment, child psychology, and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Inhalt

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with Psychology 5

Chapter 1: The Purpose of Psychology7

Whys, Whats, and Hows of People 9

A useful metaphor: Building a person 10

Why? 11

What? 11

How? 12

Troubleshooting 13

Putting It All Back Together Again 14

Chapter 2: Thinking and Behaving as a Psychologist 15

The Core Activities of a Psychologist 17

Experimental and research psychologists 17

Applied psychologists 17

Teachers/educators/professors 18

Theoretical and philosophical psychologists 18

How Do I Become a Psychologist? 18

Getting Started with Metatheory and Frameworks 19

Biological 20

Behaviorism 20

Cognitive 20

Sociocultural 21

Developmental 21

Evolutionary 22

Humanistic and existential 22

Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic 22

Feminism 23

Postmodernism 23

A Unifying Model? Working with the Biopsychosocial Model 24

Feeling out the role of the body 24

Thinking about the role of the mind 24

Observing the role of the outside world 25

Developing a good theory 27

Seeking Truth 27

Applying the scientific method 29

Researching Matters 30

Understanding descriptive research 30

Doing experimental research 30

Measuring one, measuring all with statistics 31

Relating variables: Correlation versus causation 33

Being Good: Ethics in Psychology 35

Part 2: Picking Your Brain (and Body) 37

Chapter 3: Brains, Genes, and Behavior 39

Believing in Biology 40

The Biological Control Room 42

Cells and Chemicals 44

Networking and crossing the divide 45

Branching out 47

Activating brain change 47

The Organization of the Brain 49

Forebrain 50

Midbrain 51

Hindbrain 51

Tiptoeing back and forth from the periphery 52

Finding Destiny with DNA 52

Understanding Psychopharmacology 53

Easing depression 55

Shushing the voices 55

Relaxing 56

Chapter 4: From Sensation to Perception 59

Building Blocks: Our Senses 60

The sensing process 61

Seeing 62

Hearing 65

Touching and feeling pain 66

Smelling and tasting 67

Balancing and moving 68

Finishing the Product: Perception 68

Organizing by Principles 70

Chapter 5: Exploring Consciousness 73

Carving Awareness and Being at Its Joints 74

Consciousness as an ability, skill, or process of the mind (and the brain) 74

Consciousness as a state or type of awareness 75

Catching some zzzzs 76

Understanding tired brains, slipping minds 78

Arriving at Work Naked: Dreams 79

Altering Your Consciousness 80

Getting high on conscious life 81

Being conscious of my mind (meditative states) 82

Falling into hypnosis 84

Part 3: Thinking and Feeling and Acting 85

Chapter 6: Thinking and Speaking 87

Whats on Your Mind? 88

Thinking like a PC 89

Turings challenge 89

Computing 90

Representing 91

Processing 91

Modules, Parts, and Processes 92

The attention process 93

The memory process 94

The knowing process 97

The reasoning process 100

The decision-making/choosing process 101

The problem-solving process 104

Its All about Connections 105

Bodies and Minds 106

Thinking Youre Pretty Smart 108

Considering the factors of intelligence 108

Getting a closer look 109

Adding in street smarts 110

Excelling with multiple intelligences 111

Making the grade on a curve 112

Figuring Out Language 114

Babel-On 114

Rules, syntax, and meaning 115

Chapter 7: Needing, Wanting, Feeling 117

Whats My Motivation? 118

Would you like some adrenaline with that bear? 119

Feeling needy 120

Knowing whos the boss 121

Arousing interest in prime rib 123

Getting cheaper long distance is rewarding 124

Facing your opponent-process theory 125

Believing in yourself 125

Pleasure and pain 127

Escaping psychological pain 128

Launching Countless Bad Poems: Emotions 130

Watch out for that sabertooth! 132

Your brain on emotion 133

Which comes first, the body or the mind? 135

Expressing yourself 137

Acknowledging anger 138

Being happy 140

Discovering your smart heart: Emotional intelligence and styles 142

Being in Control 143

Chapter 8: Barking up the Learning Tree: Dogs, Cats, and Rats 147

Learning to Behave 149

Drooling like Pavlovs Dogs 149

Conditioning responses and stimuli 150

Becoming extinct 152

Classic generalizing and discriminating 153

Conditioning rules! 154

Battling theories: Why does conditioning work? 156

Studying Thorndikes Cats 157

Reinforcing the Rat Case 159

Finding the right reinforcer 159

Using punishment 161

Scheduling and timing reinforcement 163

Stimulus Control and Operant Generalization 165

Operant Discrimination 166

Part 4: Me, You, and Everything in Between 167

Chapter 9: Myself and I 169

Getting to the Magic Number 5 171

They Made Me This Way 173

Representing Ourselves 174

Schemas 174

Scripts 175

It Depends on the Situation 176

Feeling Self-Conscious 179

Becoming aware of your body 180

Keeping it private 180

Showing it off 181

Identifying Yourself 181

Forging a personal identity 182

Carving out a social identity 184

Mustering up some self-esteem 185

Chapter 10: Connecting 187

Getting Attached 188

Realizing even monkeys get the blues 188

Attaching with style 189

Cavorting with Family and Friends 191

Parenting with panache 192

Embracing your rival: Siblings 193

Getting chummy: Bridge building 194

Attraction, Romance, and Love 195

How we choose the ones we love 195

Loves expanse 196

Connecting to Thoughts and Action 198

Explaining others with person perception 198

Minding you with theory of mind 201

Dancing with others: Embodied social cognition theories 202

Communication Skills 202

Asking questions 203

Explaining 204

Listening 204

Asserting yourself 205

Chapter 11: Getting Along or Not 207

Playing Your Part 208

Ganging Up in a Group 209

Conforming 210

Doing better with help 212

Kicking back 213

Remaining anonymous 213

Thinking as one 214

Persuading 215

Credibility of communicator 216

Delivery approach 216

Audience engagement 217

Age of audience 217

Being Mean 218

Acting naturally 218

Being frustrated 219

Doing whats learned 219

Lending a Helping Hand 221

Why help? 221

When to help? 224

Who gives and receives help? 225

Birds of a Feather or Not 226

Examining isms 226

Understanding discrimination 227

Making contact 228

Chapter 12: Growing Up with Psychology 229

Beginning with Conception and Birth 230

Xs and Ys get together 230

Uniting and dividing all in one night 231

Going from Diapers to Drool 233

Survival instincts 233

Motoring about 234

Flexing their muscles 235

Scheduling time for schemata 235

Getting your sensorimotor running 237

Learning within the lines 238

Saying what you think 239

Blooming social butterflies 240

Getting on the Big Yellow Bus 241

Mastering the crayon 241

Being preoperational doesnt mean youre having surgery 242

In the zone 243

Becoming even more social 243

Agonizing over Adolescence 244

Pining over puberty 244

Moving away from parents 245

Existing as a Grown-Up 246

Looking at you 246

Connecting and working 246

Aging and Geropsychology 247

Chapter 13: Psychology in the Digital Age 249

Love and Robots 250

Talk to the box 251

Me and my friends 252

That perfect someone 253

Digitized (d)evolution 254

The Dark Side of the Digital World 256

Say that to my face 256

Hooked on the Internet 257

Bullying moves from the schoolyard to the desktop 258

Can Technology Make Us Better at Being Human? 260

Part 5: Adapting and Struggling 261

Chapter 14: Coping When Life Gets Rough 263

Stressing Out 264

Ways to think about stress 264

The causes of stress 268

The impact of stress 269

Crisis: Accumulated or overwhelming stress 271

Posttraumatic stress disorder 273

The stress of loss 274

Coping is No Gamble 275

Learning how to cope 276

Finding resources 276

Chapter 15: Modern Abnormal Psychology 279

What Is Abnormal Anyway? 280

Who decides whats normal? 281

Ryffs Psychological Well-Being Model 282

Defining Mental Disorders 283

Psychotic Disorders: Grasping for Reality 286

Schizophrenia 286

Other types of psychoses 290

Feeling Funky: Depression 292

Staying in the rut of major depression 292

Depressions causes 293

Treating depression 295

Bipolar Disorder: Riding the Waves 295

Bipolar disorders causes 297

Treating bipolar disorder 297

Panic Disorders 297

Panic disorders causes 300

Treating panic disorder 300

Mental Disorders in Young People 301

Dealing with ADHD 302

Autism: Living in a world of ones own 303

Lets Talk about Stigma 305

Part 6: Repairing, Healing, and Thriving 307

Chapter 16: Testing, Assessment, and Evaluation 309

Answering the Call 310

What kinds of tests and instruments are there? 311

What kind of evaluations do psychologists do? 312

The Interview and Evaluation Process 312

Interviewing and observing 313

History taking 317

Checking under the Hood with Psychological Testing 318

Standardization 318

Reliability 319

Validity 319

More Detail on Testing Types 320

Clinical testing 320

Educational/achievement testing 321

Personality testing 322

Intelligence testing 323

Neuropsychological and cognitive testing 323

Keeping Them Honest 325

Chapter 17: We Can Help! 327

Is It Time for Professional Help? 328

Types of help 330

The Crown Jewel of Therapy: Psychotherapy 333

Good ethics is good therapy 334

The common factors model 335

Major Schools of Therapy 337

Psychodynamic therapies 338

Behavior therapy 342

Exposure-based therapies 343

Cognitive therapy 344

Playing together nicely: Behavior and cognitive therapies 346

Acceptance and mindfulness-based therapies 347

Dialectical behavior therapy 348

Client-centered therapy 350

Emotion-focused therapy 354

Empirically Supported Treatments for Specific Problems 356

ESTs for depression 357

ESTs for anxiety and trauma 357

ESTs for disorders in children 358

Chapter 18: Be Positive! Fostering Wellness, Growth, and Strength 359

Going beyond Stress: The Psychology of Health 360

Preventing illness 360

Making changes 360

Intervening 362

Harnessing the Power of Positivity 363

Stepping Up! 365

High-performance skills 366

Choking versus being clutch 366

Acquiring the Bionic Brain 367

Doing smart drugs 368

Hitting the limits of the skull 369

Part 7: The Part of Tens 371

Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Maintaining Psychological Well-Being 373

Accept Yourself 375

Strive for Self-Determination 375

Stay Connected and Nurture Relationships 375

Lend a Helping Hand 376

Find Meaning and Purpose and Work toward Goals 376

Find Hope and Maintain Faith 377

Find Flow and Be Engaged 377

Enjoy the Beautiful Things in Life 377

Struggle to Overcome; Learn to Let Go 378

Dont Be Afraid to Change 378

Chapter 20: Ten Great Psychological Movies and Shows 379

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest 380

A Clockwork Orange 380

Ordinary People 381

Girl, Interrupted 381

The Silence of the Lambs 382

Sybil 382

The Matrix 383

Black Mirror 384

True Detective (Seasons 1 and Season 3) 384

Psycho 385

Index 387

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